MOBILITY OR MIGRATION?: THE CASE OF GREEK STUDENTS ABROAD

Abstract

Both in relative and in absolute terms, Greece has more university level students studying abroad than does any other European country. Although the phenomenon is unplanned, it results from the fact that there is far greater social demand for higher education in Greece than the locally available institutions can provide. Moreover, since Greece has so far not established any third cycle (postgraduate) programmes and institutions, all postgraduate degrees must be earned abroad. Upon their return home, Greek students may have some difficulty in obtaining official recognition of their foreign degrees from the Inter‐University Centre for the Recognition of Diplomas Obtained Abroad, which has been functioning since 1979. The Certificate of Recognition issued by this Centre is as important for obtaining employment or for qualifying to exercise certain professions as the diploma itself. The problems of obtaining equivalences contribute to a tendency for the best students to remain abroad and thus be lost to Greece. In short, the current state of affairs is not a healthy one.